Author's Note: I would like to thank Mindlessgirl13 and Super Aids for following and favoriting this story. I would also like to mention that the username Super Aids is probably one of the funniest I've seen in a long time. I hope everyone is doing well, and if not then I have some good news. As soon as this story has been completed, I will be working on a sequel that will be titled something along the lines of To Persevere. Besides that, I am still taking requests for things you would like to see in this sequel.

I would also like to note that there are several things that are mentioned in this chapter that are potential spoilers for other media surrounding Mass Effect. Enjoy!


Why did this son of a bitch have to be so quick? And why a sword? Apparently Cerberus' top agent didn't know how to shoot with a real gun. But that didn't make Shepard feel any safer. She wasn't good at close combat. He was. She was good at ranged combat. He wasn't. They were on equal footing for the moment, and while Kai Leng was tearing up the room, more troops kept coming in to the room, distracting everyone from hitting the bastard before he got too close to them.

She turned and heard a slight ring before she felt a sharp needle-like pain shoot across her cheek. And then it grew warm and wet. She saw him sneer before rolling away from her. He'd got his hit in, and now it was her turn. She growled and reminded herself to steady her breath before aiming at him. The others could take care of the troops, because Kai Leng had just made this a personal match.

He was very evasive, but he wasn't any faster than any other enemy she'd fought. Shepard planted her feet, only pivoting her torso. She fired a couple shots, barely scraping him with a bullet. She tried to keep the bursts controlled but it was to no avail. She wasn't hitting her mark. Shepard was ready to give up when she saw that the man was making a move towards her. So she dropped her gun and ran straight towards him to meet him half way. She saw Leng jump up in the air, raising his sword above his head, and she dropped to her knees to slide beneath him, pulling herself up just in time to hit him in the back of his head with her armored elbow, glad to see him fall. Around her the other Cerberus troops fell, and it was at last quiet again. She composed herself and went to go back to searching for the Prothean VI.

As she sat back down in the chair, she realized there were files that could prove to be useful once this war was over. She began transferring some of the files to an OSD instead, leaving the search ultimately up to EDI. She saw a file with her name on it, and curiosity got the better of her. Thousands of documents, photos, and even some videos flashed across the screen, and her jaw dropped. The Illusive Man had been following almost since the day she joined the Alliance. There wasn't anything he wasn't aware of that she had done in that time - her life was no secret to him. The invasion she felt was so deep that she was almost tempted to delete everything. But then she thought better, and encrypted the files before throwing them onto the OSD as well.

Something sent a chill up her neck, and Shepard suddenly turned, standing up out of the chair. Time slowed for a moment as she threw her arm out, breaking Kai Leng's blade as it struck the seat where she had been just milliseconds before. He was weak, and she had to finish him off. Activating her omni-blade, she drove it deep into his abdomen, twisting as she grabbed his shoulder to pull him close.

"That was for Thane, you son of a bitch." she growled, before harshly pushing him back and pulling the blade out. He was silent as he crumbled to the floor, eventually falling into a growing pool of blood. There was some satisfaction for being able to avenge one of her friends this way, and being able to put a stop to Cerberus in the process.

"Shepard, I believe I have found the program." EDI called out. James and Saren had just barely caught the tail end of what just happened, and had come running over, only to find that the situation was finally resolved.


"Joker, we're coming back. Tell Admiral Hackett we're heading to Earth, next, and then punch in the coordinates so we don't waste any time." Emma said as the group walked back to the empty hangar bay. Cortez was waiting in the shuttle holding a pistol, and when he saw movement, like a good soldier, he raised the gun. But the multitude of colors in the group alerted him quickly that these were the people he was waiting for.

"She's all patched up and ready to go, Commander." he smiled.

"Let's get back to the Normandy." she said, stepping in and sitting down with a heavy sigh. Her body was beginning to ache, and she had a limited amount of time before the real fight began. She had to be strong. She had to finish this.

"You get some rest, Emma. I can handle things for now." Saren said as he brushed some hair out of her face. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"Thank you." she paused. "There's a couple files I want you to look at on this OSD, by the way. They're not really important, just... Interesting."

"Like what?"

"I didn't know you'd run into the Illusive Man before..." she commented, leaning back against him. She felt his shoulder tense and he sighed.

"That was a long time ago. And it's a long story." he said quietly.

"I'm sure there will be time to talk about it once this war is over." she said quietly, then humming softly and taking his hand in hopes he would calm down. They both needed to relax, if they were ever going to have a chance at being together in the end. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep somehow. And then a minute later she woke up in her bed. The fact that she was on her back gave it away that Saren had likely put her there. And then she felt the sheets and realized that she didn't have any clothes on. At least she felt rested.

Emma sat up and took a look around the room as it lit up slowly, allowing her eyes to adjust easily. And then she heard a soft whine. Gently tossing the sheets off, she went to the drawers to pull on a shirt and shorts at least, before she went to investigate the noise. It was coming from her desk and that was when she realized that Saren was sitting there with his head in his hands, whining softly. Was something bothering him?

"Saren..?" she gently brushed her hand over his shoulder and he looked up. "Is everything okay?" she asked softly, sitting on her desk in front of him. Saren watched her silently for a moment before he placed his head on its side on her lap. He'd become interested in the fish tank, apparently. "I'm going to take that as a no." she sighed, petting his fringe some. Her legs were mostly bare, but she didn't mind that she was being his pillow for right now. She would wait until he felt like speaking, but the whining was getting irritating. She sighed again, and gently flicked his mandible, hoping he'd look up at her. He did. "Saren, what's bothering you?" He returned his head to where it had been.

"I looked as some of those files." he said quietly.

"And something you saw bothered you?" she asked. He nodded. "Can you... show me what it was?"

Saren gave her a look she hadn't seen for a long time. It was a pleading look, and he didn't have to speak for her to know that he didn't want to have to look at whatever it was again. At least not for a while. Emma wanted to know, but she also noticed that Saren looked exhausted.

"Fine." she sighed, "At least come to bed and get some rest."

"I'm comfortable here." he said with a little more volume.

"I'm not, so if you want your pillow you're going to have to follow it." she smiled, standing up again. She didn't get a chance to walk away before she was pulled into his lap, being squeezed against him. She grinned and settled in to her spot, letting him rest his chin on her shoulder. They were silent and he slowly turned the chair from side to side, never letting go of her. Emma leaned her head back into his cowl comfortably, and closed her eyes again.

"Emma..."

"Hm?"

"Do you remember how it felt... When you were with Thane at Huerta?" Saren sounded like he was unsure of himself. She slowly opened her eyes, thinking for a moment.

"Yeah. It felt like I was losing family." her voice cracked a little.

"When I met the Illusive Man, I did lose family." he said, his grip around her tightening a little. "He was... He was the one that made me realize what my brother was doing was dangerous. But I thought I could still save him."

"I don't think you've ever told me about your brother." Emma sat up and turned towards him, placing her hand over his mandible. She could feel him push into her hand as his eyes closed.

"I haven't thought about him for a long time." his voice was much quieter now.

"What was he like when you were growing up?" Emma thought that maybe while they were on the subject, she could at least try to make it a happier one.

"He was like any older brother, I suppose. We'd fight with each other, but end up getting along just fine ten minutes later, sometimes he would help me figure something out if I was stuck..." Saren's expression changed, looking more confused than thoughtful, "I always looked up to him, because my parents were always praising him. I mean, I was what you would call the black sheep of the family, but he never really thought of me that way. Or if he did he was very good at hiding it."

She was at a loss of words for the moment. Emma wanted him to keep talking but at the same time she felt like she should let him go at his own pace. Silently, she prompted him on by taking his hand and letting the one on his mandible fall and wrap around him in a tight hug. After a few minutes like this she heard the small whine as he nuzzled into her.

"You only have to remember him how you want to. No one can tell you that it's wrong to remember the best of him."

"What good does that do when I know what he did?"

"What's the point of remembering someone if you only remember the things you hated about them?" she leaned back to look at him. "I'm sure you wouldn't think of me that way, would you?"

Saren was silent as he thought about it, and he slowly turned his gaze upwards to meet her eyes.

"It's different with you-"

"How? I tried killing you at one point but you seemed to get over that pretty quick." she smiled a little as her hand lovingly ran along his fringe. Saren tried speaking several times in protest, but he sighed as he gave up.

"I just don't know how you do it."

"If you can't forgive someone for making a mistake and paying for it, then how do you expect to live with yourself when you make a mistake, hm? Especially someone who seems to have meant so much to you." That lit up Saren's eyes.

"I've held Desolas' death over my head for so long. I... I'm the reason he's dead."

"But would you rather he died as you described him to me, as you saw him nearly your whole life, or as he was in that one moment?" She held his gaze, challenging him to really think. She saw the conflict as his eyes darted from hers to the space behind her.

Emma knew that Saren was trying to be accountable for his actions, but she'd gotten through to him and now he had to really decide how he wanted to look at this moment that had defined how he lived for so long. She leaned forward to wrap her arms around him, so that he wouldn't have to focus on her so much. His arms wrapped around her tightly.

"My brother died long before then." he muttered against her skin. "I just hope he can forgive me for everything I've done since."

"He'll forgive you." she smiled, giving him a gentle squeeze. She kissed his mandible and then let him press his forehead to hers. "Come on, you should get some rest." Emma said, followed by a conveniently-timed yawn.

"Yeah." he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. She rested her head on his shoulder and let him carry her back to bed, where she was quick to fall asleep, forgetting all about what was coming in just a few short hours.